Chennai, Sep 19 (PTI) Four idols, purportedly stolen from temples, were confiscated from a person in Puducherry, the Tamil Nadu Idol Wing CID said on Monday.
The idols, which included those of Sivakami Amman, Hanuman, Nagadevi and Shiva, found their way to a manufacturing unit in Auroville in the Union Territory. Learning about it, the Idol Wing initiated a raid on Monday, resulting in the seizure.
While the Sivakami Amman sculpture was made from bronze, the other three idols were carved out of stone.
As per plan, a search was organised under the leadership of DSP of Idol Wing, Tiruchirappalli, Kathiravan and his team and the idols were seized from a person who did not possess documents authorising the legal custody of the idols.
“As the owner could not establish provenance of the idols, the Idol Wing CID has registered a case and is investigating how and from where these idols were stolen,” an official release here said.
The raid was initiated with the approval of Idol Wing DGP K Jayanth Murali and IGP R Dhinakaran and after obtaining permission from the judicial magistrate.
The seized idols would be produced before the additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kumbakonam, on Tuesday.
A report will be submitted to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department for identifying and assigning the idols to the temples after the sculptures were examined by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials, the release said. PTI JSP HDA
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